Roy Keane appears to have been proved right to be dubious over the 'injury' that kept Cristiano Ronaldo out of Sunday's Manchester derby after his presence at Tuesday's training has been plunged into doubt.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was reportedly told by Manchester United's interim manager Ralf Rangnick on the Friday night he would not be in the starting line-up for the trip to the Etihad.
As a result, Ronaldo did not attend Saturday’s club meal and Rangnick told reporters before the game that the club's iconic number seven missed out with a hip flexor injury.
It has since emerged that Ronaldo was not even in the city by the time the first-whistle was blown against Manchester City, instead he opted to fly home to Portugal.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Was Keane correct to doubt Ronaldo's injury? Comment below
In the wake of the 4-1 humbling at the hands of their local rivals, United's underperforming stars were given Monday off.
However, as of Monday evening, both the club and the player's representatives refused to confirm whether Ronaldo would be present for training at Carrington on Tuesday.
Rangnick has previously insisted that any player dealing with a knock will complete their rehabilitation in Manchester rather than abroad, casting further doubt over Ronaldo's absence form the Derby.
While covering the game as a pundit for Sky Sports, Keane cast doubt over Rangnick's assessment of the situation surrounding Ronaldo's omission from the squad for the derby.
"I just don’t like when the manager [Ralf Rangnick] talks about this hip flexor,” the Man United icon said. "I don’t get it.
"We talk about Ronaldo being almost some sort of machine, he’s rarely ever injured.
"But every now and again he comes up with that, hip flexor - doesn’t add up to me."
This is not the first time Ronaldo has missed a game with a suspected hip flexor, he also sat out the trip to Aston Villa with the same injury in January.
Rangnick has already responded to Keane's suggestion that there is something bigger at play and quashed the speculation.
"I have to believe my medical department," the Red Devils interim boss explained.
"My doctor came to see me on Friday morning before training and told me Cristiano Ronaldo cannot train because of some problems with his hip flexor and the same was true on Saturday and that's why he couldn't be part of the squad."
United's defeat significantly dented their hopes of Champions League qualification.
The Red Devils now sit fifth in the table, one point behind nearest rivals Arsenal having played three games more than the Mikel Arteta's side.
The humbling at the hands of City has also cast the future of Marcus Rashford in doubt as the England international was rumoured to be unhappy with being dropped from the starting line-up.
The 24-year-old is now rumoured to be "considering" his options and whether to remain at Old Trafford or not.
